In Friuli-Venezia Giulia, more than 25 ski areas once operated across the lowest mountain ranges in the entire Alpine arc. Most have been closed for decades. The lifts are still standing.

Once Upon Ski is a three-year documentary project about the people who built these places, ran them, and watched them disappear — and about what it means to lose the centre of a community’s winter life. Through portraits, landscapes, archival material and sound recordings, the project traces the intersection of climate change, depopulation, and collective memory in the Italian Alps.

90% of ski resorts in Italy now rely on artificial snow. The forecasts are clear. This is not a nostalgic project — it is a record of a transformation already underway.